Messi, Haaland, Bonmati lead Ballon d'Or nominees

PARIS -- Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland are among the leading contenders to win this year's men's Ballon d'Or, while Spain World Cup star Aitana Bonmati leads the nominees announced on Wednesday for the women's prize.

Messi, who recently left Paris Saint-Germain for Inter Miami, is in with a chance of succeeding Karim Benzema and winning the Ballon d'Or for the eighth time in his remarkable career after leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar last year.

Haaland may be his main rival for the prize after scoring 52 goals in 53 games to help Manchester City win the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup last season.

The Norway striker last week won the UEFA player of the year award for last season.

PSG's Kylian Mbappe and Haaland's City teammate Kevin De Bruyne also feature among the 30 nominees for the prize, the winner of which will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on October 30.

Benzema, who ended a 14-year spell at Real Madrid in June when he moved to Saudi club Al-Ittihad, is also nominated.

Bonmati, winner of the UEFA women's player award, appears the favorite to claim the Ballon d'Or after being the outstanding player as Spain lifted the World Cup in Sydney last month.

She also starred as Barcelona won the Champions League and will hope to succeed her club and international colleague Alexia Putellas, winner in the last two years.

Putellas is not nominated this time having hardly played for Barcelona last season after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate knee ligament in July 2022 which kept her out for nine months.

Bonmati is one of four members of Spain's World Cup-winning team nominated, along with Olga Carmona, Salma Paralluelo and Alba Redondo.

Their compatriots Patricia Guijarro and Mapi Leon are also named.

Both of Barcelona, they did not go to the World Cup after being among a group of 15 players who said last year they no longer wanted to play for Spain in a protest against the Spanish federation and coach Jorge Vilda.

Others included in the 30 nominees are Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr and England goalkeeper Mary Earps.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Portugal win in Euro 2024 qualifying as Scotland stun Haaland's Norway

PARIS, France -- Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Portugal won in Euro 2024 qualifying on Saturday after Scotland produced a stunning late comeback to beat Erling Haaland's Norway in Oslo.

Portugal defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in Lisbon to make it three wins out of three in Group J, with Manchester City star Bernardo Silva opening the scoring a minute before half-time.

Fernandes headed in the second from a Ruben Neves cross in the 77th minute and scored his second, and Portugal's third, in added time.

Cristiano Ronaldo wore the captain's armband and played all 90 minutes as the 38-year-old men's international appearance record-holder won his 199th cap.

However, the forward now playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia did not manage to add to his record 122 international goals -- he found the net with a header midway through the first half only to be denied by an offside flag.

Portugal, who visit Iceland on Tuesday, are top of Group J with nine points out of a possible nine having scored 13 goals and conceded none.

They are two points clear of Slovakia, who beat Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavik with Tomas Suslov unwittingly scoring the winner 20 minutes from time after an Alfred Finnbogason penalty for the hosts cancelled out Juraj Kucka's opener.

Luxembourg beat Liechtenstein 2-0 in the same six-team group, from which the top two sides qualify for the finals in Germany.

Scotland have three wins out of three in Group A after following a famous victory over Spain in March by coming from behind late on to beat Norway 2-1 on Saturday.

It looked as if Norway would get their first win of the campaign after Erling Haaland was fouled in the box on the hour mark by Ryan Porteous and converted the resulting penalty.

It was Haaland's 22 goal in 24 games for Norway, and he was taken off six minutes from time by coach Stale Solbakken with the job seemingly done.

But then Scotland equalised in the 87th minute when Leo Ostigard failed to deal with a John McGinn pass, allowing Lyndon Dykes to stab home.

And Scotland were not finished as they snatched the winner with a minute left, McGinn and Dykes combining to set up Norwich City's Kenny McLean to slot in, leaving Norway with just one point from three outings.

- Lukaku rescues Belgium -

Scotland, who went 23 years without appearing at any major tournament before going to Euro 2020, are now in a fantastic position on top of Group A, five points clear of Georgia and six ahead of Nations League finalists Spain.

They have played a game more than both of those sides, however, and welcome Georgia to Glasgow on Tuesday.

"Sometimes when it's your moment you just have to ride the wave. The boys believe in themselves and kept going," said Scotland boss Steve Clarke.

Georgia, coached by ex-France international Willy Sagnol, won 2-1 in Cyprus with Zuriko Davitashvili scoring the decisive goal late on.

That was after Georges Mikautadze's opener was cancelled out by a penalty from Ioannis Pittas for Cyprus.

Belgium were held to a 1-1 draw by Austria in Brussels, with captain Romelu Lukaku turning and firing in from the edge of the box just after the hour mark for the hosts.

They had been trailing after Orel Mangala deflected a shot past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and into his own net.

"After the first goal we saw the heads go down, which is something we need to learn from because this team is young," said Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco. "But in the end, I honestly saw good things as well."

Eden Hazard, the former Belgium captain who quit international football after the World Cup, attended the match and did a lap of honour around the stadium at half-time.

Belgium are three points behind group leaders Austria but have a game in hand. They are back in action on Tuesday in Estonia, who drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan on Saturday.

In other action, the Czech Republic cemented their position at the top of Group E after a 3-0 win in the Faroe Islands in which Vaclav Cerny scored twice.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Haaland embracing life out his 'comfort zone' in Premier League

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom -- Erling Haaland has warned the contenders to Manchester City's title that he will only improve in the competitive environment of English football as the Norwegian prepares for his Premier League debut away to West Ham on Sunday.

Haaland is the marquee arrival to the Premier League from over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) spent by the 20 top-flight English clubs so far this summer.

The 22-year-old had his pick of top clubs after scoring 86 goals in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund, but said the demands of playing under Pep Guardiola was behind his reason for choosing City.

"As a young player, playing for Pep Guardiola, playing for the best club in England, I have to keep developing and get better at a lot of things," Haaland told Sky Sports.

"That's what I like a lot about football, you can always develop, you can always get better at the game."

The English champions are already Haaland's fifth club after spells at Bryne, Molde and Red Bull Salzburg before joining Dortmund.

"Part of the game is to get out of your comfort zone which is something I've been doing and something I like because then you develop more as a human being as well," he added.

"I'm a player that's hungry for goals, that gives 100 per cent, that wants to win every single game. They are simple things but also really important things."

After the hype around his arrival, Haaland had a debut to forget, missing a glorious chance towards the end of City's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday.

However, he said he will not let that affect him as he prepares to make his first Premier League appearance this weekend.

"You are a kind of entertainer. You get judged every single week for what you do on the pitch and you have to deliver and do your best," he said.

"For me as a striker, this is something I cannot stress about because if you think too much, you might end up doing things you don't want to do.

"It's going to be tough and this is the charming thing about the Premier League. It's a beautiful, hard competition, that's why it's the most popular league in the world."

Agence France-Presse